


You ain´t fooling anyone

by Zunnietheweirdo



Series: Ranger shenanigans [2]
Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Background Relationships, Bisexual Disaster Will Treaty, Father-Son Relationship, Let Halt Say Fuck, M/M, Mild Language, background craltine, evil paperwork, stabby vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:35:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24845413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zunnietheweirdo/pseuds/Zunnietheweirdo
Summary: A ddisaster named Will and a barely functioning Horace are trying to keep their relationship a secret but are failing misserably.
Relationships: Gilan & Will Treaty, Halt O'Carrick & Will Treaty, Horace Altman/Will Treaty
Series: Ranger shenanigans [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2136150
Comments: 14
Kudos: 44
Collections: Ranger's Apprentice Summer Fluff 5K





	You ain´t fooling anyone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [artanogon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/artanogon/gifts).



> okay please enjoy Kiri  
> Thank you Avery for helping me with this - whatever this is and being a wonderfull beta.  
> Also sorry Drowned for being so late with it.
> 
> update: There will be no other chapters but I will be posting other works within this same AU (Is it an AU? who knows. Not me!)

“So what exactly got you stabbed, again?” Will asked as he hung the kettle over the fire. He was enjoying Gilan's visit but he simply couldn´t let an opportunity to tease him slide.

"You will never let me forget it, will you?"

"Not a chance"

"How much honey do you want?" interrupted Horace, who, while the rangers were bickering, grounded the coffee, pulled out the honey jar and was currently scooping the sweet goo in question into four mugs.

"Same as Will. By the way, when is Halt coming? Shouldn't he have already arrived?" and precisely that was the moment that the two ranger horses picked to huff in a greeting to a slowly approaching familiar rider.

At that mark, Will got up from his spot at the sofa he was sitting on and walked outside onto the porch to welcome his former teacher. Will stood in the chilly early spring wind as he watched the older man get closer and closer. It was strange being back at the cabin without Halt, but it wasn't like he never saw him anymore. Opposite, indeed, since the grizzly ranger was a frequent visitor. Plus, he had Horace now. Truth be told he always had Horace by his side, but not quite like this. Sometimes he had to shake his head and wonder how he hadn't realized earlier. The feelings had been there for a few years, yet Will had been completely oblivious to them. Until recently.

The whole Macindaw situation made him think--think about who he really wants. He always thought that the one he wanted was Alyss. The girl who made him laugh, the one who made him feel safe. Turns out they both like each other solely as friends. Even in the tower that night he told her he loved her. And it was true: he loves her and she loves him. Just not the way many would think.

Horace on the other hand. He was a whole nother complicated case. This man made Will almost go crazy. He didn't know how he should feel about him. Sure, he knew that there was the possibility of loving another man. Hell! Halt loved two people and nobody gave him shit. That wasn't the issue. The problem was Will's fear of Horace's feelings not matching his and thus losing his best friend. But on the other hand he felt like he would burst into million pieces if he didn't tell him how much he cared about him. How much he loved his smile, loved the way he ruffled his hair when he was nervous, and how much he loved the way he pierced him through with those pale blue eyes.

It was official: Will had it bad. And he had to do something about it. For all he knew he could die that night without his love knowing about his true feelings.

"Why the fuck are you grinning like an idiot Will?" Halt's words ripped him right out of his daydreaming. The man in question was indeed grinning like an idiot and staring into the forest surrounding them.

"I'm just happy," answered Will as he turned to face Halt and hugged him. "I have you all here, in one spot. That's rare lately."

"I know," said Halt and hugged him back.

When they opened the cabin door, they were presented with the smell of fresh coffee and the sight of Gilan half sitting half lying on the sofa and frowning at a pile of papers presented in front of him. Four steaming mugs of coffee had been left on the small table right next to the offending documents. Horace must have put them there and gone back to Will's bedroom where he had previously thrown his saddle bags.

"This isn't fair." Gilan moaned.

"Wait till you see this," Halt pulled out another pile of papers, this time bound together by string, from under his cloak and set it on top of the other. "Crowley's ‘get well’ gift."

"Oh no," that was Horace, standing in the doorframe and holding his own handful of documents. "He's also sent these."

Gilan just groaned in pain and muttered something along the lines of Crowley soon getting his own stabby vacation if he keeps this up. He came to visit Redmont in hopes of escaping the commandant's paperwork wrath. Turns out, that isn't quite possible when you choose the fief his husband and wife reside in as your asylum. What he also had not counted for was Horace´s visit and the possibility of him bringing more work. Fortunately, he´d be back on fief duty pretty soon, since falling on a knife had left him with a light wound that was healing quickly.

“Sorry, Gil. I couldn't say no.”

“It's fine, Horace, don't worry. I still have to do something. Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it though.”

“Why are you even here, Horace?” Halt asked, sipping his coffee. “Shouldn´t you be staying at Redmont instead of squishing yourself in one bed with Will?” He raised his eyebrow in question. “I'm assuming that's what's happening, since Gilan is injured and should not be sharing a bed, and you just walked out of Will's room where you went to fetch your things.”

“I--well, ugh, we're, since we're--”  
“Horace and I are working on a case. I'm hoping that if he disguises himself, he’ll be able to get some information from the suspects. They already know my face, so I can´t go. And since it´s time sensitive, I thought we'd save time by not having Horace ride here and back to Redmont everyday. And we don't mind sharing, right?” answered Will with a smile instead. Horace just nodded in agreement. Nice save, Will thought to himself. He wasn't lying to Halt. After all, they were working on that case. It just wasn't the actual reason Horace was staying at the cabin instead of the castle. But no-one needed to know that.

“Right, in that case. Come on Gil! Pack your stuff, you´ll be staying in the castle.” Halt announced.

“What? Why?”

“We don't want to keep them from work,” explained Halt, and flashed Will a knowing smile.


End file.
